"the interests of our country are best served by the immediate appointment of a strong and well-supported prime minister. I am therefore withdrawing from the leadership election, and I wish Mrs May the very greatest success." Her campaign manager, MP Tim Loughton spoke about an "onslaught of often very personal attacks from colleagues and journalists" as well as "underhand tactics against decent people". Leadsom had been under pressure from the news media, with reports criticising her exaggeration of business and management experience and her suggestion that motherhood strengthened her candidacy for Prime Minister. Leadsom charged The Times with "gutter journalism" in response to the article about the motherhood issue. The Times subsequently released the audio tapes of the interview to confirm Leadsom's statement. Although she subsequently apologised "for any hurt I have caused" to Theresa May, she also related that she had felt "under attack, under enormous pressure … It has been shattering." In her resignation statement she thanked the 84 MPs who had supported her, conceding that "this is less than 25% of the parliamentary party and ... I do not believe this is sufficient support to win a strong and stable government should I win the leadership election". After her appointment as a Cabinet minister, other comments that Leadsom had made during the leadership race came to light and also led to criticism. During the 6 July 2016 interview with The Times, she had stated that men were more likely to be paedophiles than women and hence, were not suitable to be hired for jobs in daycare. Several MPs in opposition parties called for May to dismiss Leadsom from the Cabinet but the prime minister declined to do so. Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2016–2017) On 14 July 2016, following Theresa May's election as Leader of the Conservative Party, and the formation of the first May ministry, Leadsom was appointed to the cabinet as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In April 2017, following the announcement of the general election in June, Leadsom was instructed to delay a report of illegally high levels of diesel pollution affecting over half the population until after the election. Constitutional experts Dr Jo Murkens and Colin Talbot agreed it was a health issue and therefore not affected by the election and the government was instructed to appear in the high court to explain the delay.